Protest sale offered cookies at different prices, depending on race

ktrk ^

[chance33_98]

Protest sale offered cookies at different prices, depending on race

By The Associated Press

(9/26/03 - DALLAS) — Southern Methodist University officials have shut down a bake sale in which cookies were offered for sale at different prices, depending on the race and gender of the buyer.

The sale Tuesday was organized by the Young Conservatives of Texas, who said it was intended as a protest of affirmative action.

A sign said white males had to pay $1 for a cookie. The price was 75 cents for white women, 50 cents for Hispanics and 25 cents for blacks.

Members of the conservative group said they meant no offense and were only trying to exercise their freedom of speech to protest the use of race or gender as a factor in college admissions.

Similar sales have been held at U.S. colleges since February.

A black student filed a complaint with SMU, saying the sale was offensive. SMU officials said they halted the event after 45 minutes because it created a potentially unsafe situation for students.

"This was not an issue about free speech," Tim Moore, director of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, said in a story for Thursday's edition of The Dallas Morning News. "It was really an issue where we had a hostile environment being created that was potentially volatile."

The sale drew a crowd of students outside the student center and several engaged in a shouting match, Moore said.

David C. Rushing, 23, a second-year law student and chairman of Young Conservatives of Texas at SMU and for the state, said the event didn't get out of hand. At most, a dozen students gathered around the table of cookies and Rice Krispie treats, he said.

"We copied what's been done at multiple campuses around the country to illustrate our opinion of affirmative action and how we think it's unfair," he said.

Chapters of the group held similar bake sales at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University earlier this month. In both cases, the schools allowed the events, citing university free speech policies.

Matt Houston, a 19-year-old sophomore, called the group's price list offensive.

"My reaction was disgust because of the ignorance of some SMU students," said Houston, who is black. "They were arguing that affirmative action was solely based on race. It's not based on race. It's based on bringing a diverse community to a certain organization."

The group sold three cookies during its protest, raising $1.50.

Minority enrollment among SMU's 10,000-member student body is 19 percent.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled universities could use race as a factor in admissions under limited conditions. The ruling changes the landscape in Texas, where universities have been banned from using race as a factor since a 1996 decision by a lower court.

The bake sales date back to early February when one was held by the Bruin Republicans group at the University of California, Los Angeles.

College Republican chapters at the University of California-Berkeley, the University of New Mexico, the University of Richmond in Virginia, the University of Michigan, Northwestern University and Illinois State University followed suit.

[Delta 21]

This whole thing is actually very close to the truth.

Living in Las Cruces, NM and working in El Paso for a while. My mother being full mexican and speeks it and looks it. Her sons being half breed chicanos and only knowing the parts of the mexican language to get a kid into trouble......It only takes one trip to a road side fruit stand in the area to show you that white men that dont converse in border mexican, get charged at least double. My mom does all the talking and we get away with murder.

[Inyokern]

That's easy for you to say

In case you are not familiar with that language, it is called liberal doubletalk.

[Nea Wood]

They called him and said..."you mean you are not a minority? You are not a hispanic? Oh well..we have a problem here. We are looking for minorities."

Imagine if a black or Hispanic was told:

"You mean you are a minority??? You're not white? Oh well..we have a problem here. We are looking for a white."

[mrustow]

At the City University of New York, he would have qualified for affirmative action. I used to teach there, and it blew me away, when I saw the rule in some paperwork I had to fill out. The only local groups that were frozen out were Jewish and Asian men. (I'm not counting Irishmen, because they left town a long time ago.)

[mrustow]

They are in NYC -- see #24.

[mrustow]

J'accuse!

I charge you with posting to threads after having read not only posts, but entire articles.

[Delta 21]

It does happen occationally.

I was just wondering what kind of cookies they were selling......only hispanics bought them ?

[LibertyLight]

no - don't think Italian is official minority - except of course at the universities where only blacks and hispanics are hired...
he would never want to be hired because of that anyway.

[LibertyLight]

All hell would break loose....!!! plus we'd be sued.!~

[LibertyLight]

Regarding City University of New YOrk --
He would never ever allow himself to be hired because of affirmative action...he studied and trained for years to get hired legitimately.
We are now in NYC - guess we should check out CUNY?!
I hear the level of teaching is very questionable.

[Republican Wildcat]

It's not based on race. It's based on bringing a diverse community to a certain organization

What is the difference?

[tophat9000]

A black student filed a complaint with SMU, saying the sale was offensive

Ok how about white males pay 25 cents for a cookie 50 cents for white women, 75 cents for Hispanics and $1 for blacks?

[tophat9000]

guess we should check out CUNY?!

Am I the only one that always misread this schools initial?

I mean it sound like a school for Hillary

[gitmo]

A black student filed a complaint with SMU, saying the sale was offensive.

It supposed to be! That's the point! Obviously you weren't admitted based on intellect.

[anymouse]

Texas sized ping. FReepers in training.

[Joe_October]

Ok how about white males pay 25 cents for a cookie 50 cents for white women, 75 cents for Hispanics and $1 for blacks?

That is a very clever solution. By reversing the price, they couldn't complain that it was insulting. Whoever is arranging these things needs to put that in their play list.

[FITZ]

I was just wondering what kind of cookies they were selling......only hispanics bought them ?

The whites couldn't afford the cookies, the blacks just wanted to complain about the good deal they got, the hispanics at least saw a good deal and took it.

[MeekOneGOP]

bttt ...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/keyword/Cookie

[tarator]

They are in NYC

And everywhere else they are the majority? :-P